Keeping Declan Safe
by rjwritergirl
Summary: Emily Prentiss is on the run for her life, how far will she go to keep Declan safe?  4 shot! Complete!  2nd in the Innocent Journey series!
1. Chapter 1

**This story is set between the first and second part of Chapter 1 of I'm coming home.**

**Hopefully I will be adding onto It's only New Years Eve and Crossing the Line within a couple of weeks, as well as my Harry Poter fanfic and my National Treasure fan fic, please be patient as I move twice within three months. :)**

**Enjoy!**

**May 6****th**** 2011**

Emily Prentiss stepped off of the plane in New York City, took a deep breath, and looked around. At least she knew she hadn't been followed. Her tracks had been covered pretty well, she had a new identity and she was on her way to Italy. She could relax, but she had an important stop to make first.

If not for her peace of mind, then for her heart. The consequences could be deadly, but what the hell, she was already dead. If she had to die for real, then she wanted to see his eyes one more time- to know that the sacrifice she made for the BAU was worth it and hadn't all been in vain.

She quickly made her way to baggage claim and grabbed her bag, then she made her way to where she could rent a car. After getting the car she began driving to her destination. Nearly 5 hours later, she crossed the Concord city limit.

Pulling over at a gas station to fill the car up, she stepped inside and grabbed a pregnancy test, a large bottle of Sunny D and a fudge brownie to add to her total. After paying she went back to her car and began driving to the closest middle school. If she'd done her research right, Declan attended there.

She parked the car and got out a book since school didn't get out for a couple more hours and she had some time to kill. Quickly unscrewing the top off of the bottle of Sunny D she drank some and glanced at the box of pregnancy tests in the bag that was sitting on the passenger seat. It was entirely possible that she _wasn't_ pregnant; she couldn't remember a single time when she'd had a normal cycle. But then, that was the scary part, since she'd never had a regular cycle she couldn't tell 100% when her period was _supposed_ to come.

"Damn you Ian." It wasn't the first (or likely the last) time she'd said the words.

Children's voices made her look up. A long line of students came out of the school; she glanced at the time: 12:15. The children had backpacks and school books in their hands. Clearly school had let out early today. "Oh please let me recognize Declan," Emily prayed to a God she was unsure was there.

The students were slow, and Emily tried not to get too annoyed with them. After all it was a Friday, they had gotten out of school early, and they didn't have to hurry home to do homework. Although it annoyed her a little bit, Emily understood that they would dawdle and take their time.

Finally though, after 5 excruciating minutes she saw him. His blonde hair was darker but his eyes, Ian's eyes were still the same. He, along with a few boys and a girl were walking down the sidewalk, towards her.

Emily moved to start the car, she'd seen him, now she could go spend the night at some non-descript motel, take her pregnancy test and either get drunk after getting a negative or cry herself to sleep after getting a positive.

Something made Declan look up though; something made him look straight at her.

For a moment their eyes locked and Emily tried to keep herself from crying, she'd covered Declan and Louise's tracks well enough that no one would have been able to find them…hell she'd hidden them and she'd had a hard time finding them. But still - his standing there was proof that Declan was still safe. She hadn't failed.

Emily looked through the glass at the now 11 year old, his mouth worked for a moment before he mouthed "_Lauren_?"

Emily couldn't help but smile a little, he hadn't spoken to her personally, but it was still nice to hear Declan's voice.

"Hey lady, can I use the hood of your car?" Declan's voice suddenly spoke loud enough that she could hear him.

Surprised, Emily nodded. "Yeah sure, kid," she responded.

"What are you doing Robert?" One of the other boys spoke now; the group halted on the sidewalk.

Emily's stomach flip flopped. She wondered if she had made a mistake in who Declan was now.

"I'm going to hang out with Lauren this weekend, but she needs my address," Declan said. He pointedly looked at Emily and she smiled; now knowing she hadn't made a mistake. Declan got out a piece of paper from his backpack and grabbed a pencil. He began writing on the paper.

"I thought Lauren was the most annoying person in our Science class," the second boy in the group remarked, clearly teasing Declan.

"This is a different Lauren," Declan corrected. "Lauren…" he trailed off for a moment before continuing to speak. "Lauren from History." He glanced over his shoulder at the group. "Go on without me; I'll catch up."

"I want to know who this Lauren is." A third boy spoke up now, "Robbie, you're not holding out on us are you?"

"Go on," Declan ordered, more forcefully. "Or I'm not going to tell you who Lauren is."

"Come on, if we want to know who she is we should go on ahead," the girl spoke now and grabbed the arm of the first boy who had spoken. "Come on Vince; let's go."

"Fine," Vince said, he shot a disappointed look at Declan, "I'm insulted though Robbie, since you're not letting me help you. I've had more experience then you-"

"And you've also gotten into loads more trouble," Declan interrupted Vince, still writing something on the paper. "I think I'll try this my way. Now if you don't go, I'll never tell you who Lauren is."

"Fine." Vince, the girl, and the other two boys turned and kept walking. Declan waited until they'd turned the corner before moving to the passenger side window.

Emily lowered it and Declan dropped the paper onto the passenger seat. "I know we can't talk here, but there are directions to my house," he said. "Mom should be getting home at about 4:00."

"Could I come before then?" Emily surprised herself by asking the question.

Declan lowered his voice. "Yeah. I'll make an excuse that my mom said no friends today, so Vince, Terry and James don't come over." He looked around. "I should be home without anyone there in about half an hour."

"Okay." Emily smiled.

"Is there another name I should call you?" Declan asked. "I'm Robert now."

"Emily." The name slipped out without her permission.

"Great." Declan grinned. Emily couldn't help but smile back, his grin was infectious.


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's chapter 2! Sorry for the delay in posting!**

Chapter 2:

Emily drove down the street Declan had said his house was at. He'd written the address and a little map showing her where his house was. It wasn't very far from the school, but she had waited to give Declan time to get home and get rid of his friends. It was a pretty house though; it looked exactly like the other houses on the street. The street looked similar to the one on Leave it to Beaver, and Emily felt she'd stepped back in time.

"Looks like she took my advice," Emily murmured to herself as she parked the car and got out. When Declan and Louise had left, she'd told Louise to buy a house that would blend in, one that would look like every other house on the street.

There was a movement inside the house and Emily put her guard up. Likely it was just Declan/Robert but she didn't want someone else to get the upper hand.

Raising her hand she knocked on the door, it opened almost immediately and she saw how tall Declan was now, while before he'd been nearly 2 feet shorter then her, he was catching up and he no longer had to crane his neck to look in her face like before. He would likely pass her in height by the time he started high school, if not before then.

"Lauren! I mean Emily!" he corrected himself, Emily came in and Declan quickly shut the door before wrapping his arms around the former FBI agent.

"Declan, I've missed you." Emily breathed, surprised at the tears that were now clouding her vision. She wrapped her arms around the now 11 year old.

They stood there for nearly a minute before Declan pulled back. He was looking at her as if he'd never seen her before.

"What is it?" Emily asked, brushing his bangs from his face. He just looked up at her, his face nearly void of emotion.

"Why did you leave?" He finally asked.

Emily locked eyes with Declan and nearly wept when she saw that there was no anger in his eyes. What had she done to deserve this sweet boy that wasn't even hers? "Sometimes there are no answers Declan." She began. "And it's not a decision of right or wrong. Just know that I love you and that I will always love you; and that's all you need to know." Emily said, she smoothed some of his hair back and they moved to the couch.

"That didn't answer my question." Declan looked puzzled as they sat.

Emily smiled gently, that was the same response she would have given when she was Declan's age. "Yes it did, Declan." She spoke quietly. "Yes it did."

"Is this one of those things that I'll understand when I'm older?" Declan asked.

"Yes." Emily nodded; and continued to stare into Declan's eyes, glad that she was able to see him again, if only for a moment.

"Okay." Declan shrugged accepting the non-explanation, "I missed you." He said quietly.

"I missed you too Declan, every day." Emily said, drinking in the sight of him, all those years when she was unsure how he was; he'd been fine, he'd been safe. "Not a day went by that I didn't think of you."

"Why did you come back?" Declan asked, biting his lip in confusion.

"I can't tell you that." Emily said carefully, "I have to go somewhere for a little while and I wanted to say good bye."

"Where are you going?" Declan asked.

"I can't tell you that either," The regret was thick in Emily's voice. "I wish I could, Declan."

"Can you tell me why you can't tell me?"

"It's for your safety." Emily said carefully, she wasn't sure how much Declan knew or remembered about Ian or what he'd done.

"Before you left, and we moved, I remember a guy with dark hair, he seemed scary." Declan said. "Is it because of him?

Liam. Emily realized "I can't tell you who exactly is involved, Declan."

"I understand." Declan said, he grinned at her.

Emily reached out and smoothed Declan's hair back again. She'd never been much of a touchy feely person, but now she couldn't help herself. Now that Declan was in front of her; part of her needed to keep touching him to make sure that he was real and this wasn't a dream.

"I hope I'll be able to come back and visit soon, but until then I'll have to say good bye." Emily said. "I wanted to make sure that you knew I hadn't forgotten you."

"I knew you hadn't forgotten me Emily." Declan said, he suddenly looked mischievous, like he knew a wonderful secret.

"How did you know?" Emily asked, thanking her lucky stars that Declan wasn't angry with her.

Declan took in a breath and looked at Emily carefully before speaking hesitantly "I found you on facebook."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**:

"How-?" Emily couldn't finish her sentence.

"I was reading the newspaper and I saw a blurb about a case you helped solve, there were women involved and babies and the bad guy had taken the baby from his mother when he was just born." Declan explained. "You got the baby back from the bad guy and gave him back to his Mom and she said she named him Declan and you were in the background of the picture."

Declan suddenly got up and went up stairs. "Stay there, I'll grab the photo. I cut it out of the paper."

Emily stayed where she was before Declan jumped down the stairs; he shoved the paper into Emily's face. Taking it from him, she looked at the picture, it was a case from a few years before, when the team had gone to New Mexico and uncovered a couple who had been kidnapping girls and getting them pregnant. If the babies were girls the mother was killed and the baby girl was placed into Foster Care.

"I saw you in the background and looked up who you were. Then I looked you up on Facebook."

"You never tried to friend me," Emily said softly.

Declan shrugged, "Lauren Reynolds died in a car accident." Declan repeated what Emily had said a few weeks before, "You must have had a good reason for not telling me, mom or dad about your real self."

Emily smiled and continued to stroke Declan's hair.

"I've got something to show you." Declan got up and went into the back of the house. She heard a door shut and then keys jangled outside the front door. Instinctively, Emily reached for a gun that wasn't there.

The front door opened and Louise came in, she placed her keys on the table just inside the door and turned, once she saw Emily however, her face turned stark white and she gaped at Emily.

After a few moments of stunned silence she was finally able to speak. "He's found us hasn't he?"

"Your nightmare is over" Emily said in a low whisper.

"He is dead?" Louse asked carefully, after making sure that Declan wasn't downstairs.

"He will be," Emily promised. "He escaped." She saw no reason to lie to Louise. "My former team however, is looking for him; they're the best in the world."

Louise looked at Emily sharply. "Why are you here?" she asked. She didn't say it rudely, she was just curious.

"I have to go away for a little bit; I just wanted to see him. I didn't know Declan was going to see me. When he asked me over I couldn't help it."

"Mom, you're home early," Declan spoke from the doorway. Emily pushed down a little seed of jealousy when she heard Declan calling Louise 'Mom'. Declan wasn't hers, had never been hers - would never be hers. There was no reason she should be jealous.

"I finished cleaning early," Louise said. She looked at Declan fondly before turning her attention to Emily. "Would you like to stay for dinner?" she asked.

"I should probably go, I have someplace to be," Emily said before glancing at her watch. She had a pregnancy test to take.

"Let me send you off with a few snacks," Louise remarked as she cast a wary glance over Emily. "You look like you haven't eaten in a few days."

"Thank you Louise," Emily said, "I noticed that Declan goes by Robert now. What's your name?" She'd need to know when she called JJ to have them go into hiding again.

"Marie," Louise replied as she began preparing a snack; she took some bread and cheese out of the fridge.

"I need to get you something too." Declan spoke, before Emily could respond. Then he spun around and jogged upstairs.

When they were finally alone again Louise gave Emily a look, "you look different then the last time I saw you." She said, her eyes narrowing in suspicion.

"Ian Doyle has a way of changing everybody's lives - not for the better." Emily said carefully. The chance of Doyle finding Declan and Louise was slim but she didn't want to endanger her possible baby's life by telling Louise about him or her.

Louise quickly had a couple of sandwiches made and in zip-lock baggies. She dropped a couple of bags of chips on the counter by the sandwiches.

"May God be with you." Louise said gently.

"And also with you," Emily responded to the still-familiar Catholic goodbye.

"Here, Emily," Declan's voice spoke from the doorway. He handed her a large envelope. "May God be with you." He said, Emily folded him into her arms and spoke:

"And also with you."

They continued to hug for a moment before Emily spoke again, speaking the only words she knew would come out, '_I love you_' '_I'm sorry'_ or '_I wish we could have contact_' would be too difficult. "May God be with you." She hoped the emotion in her voice told him what she couldn't say.

Declan pulled back, and a few tears escaped Emily's eyes, from the look on his face she could tell that he understood. Thenhe spoke four words that soothed Emily's soul. "And also with you."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4:**

JJ pulled her phone out of her purse, "Hello?"

"Hey JJ I need a favor," Emily said without an introduction.

JJ nearly halted in the middle of the busy street, what was Emily doing calling her? "Isabelle, I thought you were on a plane," she said carefully.

"I had a stop to make first; I'm going to need another favor."

"What is it?" JJ asked.

"Another couple of people need to go into hiding," regret laced Emily's voice.

"Who?"

"Robert and Marie Brewster," Emily said. "They live in Concord Massachusetts."

"Okay, I'll have them out by tonight."

"I didn't know they would see me," Emily tried to explain.

"I understand," JJ said soothingly.

"I couldn't say no when he looked at me Jayje. If you met him you'd understand, it's like trying to say no to Hotch or Pen."

"It's fine," JJ soothed again. "Like I said, I'll have them out by tonight, give me the address."

"278 Waverley Lane." Emily leaned back in the rental car's driver's seat. "I didn't mean for him to see me JJ; I should have parked farther from the school."

"Isabelle, it's fine," JJ kept talking in a soothing tone. "I understand that you didn't mean for that to happen. I'll make sure Marie knows."

Emily tried not to cry as she kept talking. "If I had known he'd see me I would have gone to Italy from New York right away, I wouldn't have gone to Concord."

"I know this is a stressful time," JJ said. "And I'm sorry that I can't be there for you." JJ halted and stepped to the side where the other pedestrians could pass her, it sounded like she had a sudden head cold. She glanced around and her eyes fell on the display next to her, it was a book store. "But I want you to go to a used bookstore and get a romance novel, then go to a grocery store and get some ice cream."

Emily nodded before she realized that JJ couldn't see her. "Okay JJ," she replied, realizing that her plan of getting drunk if she got the negative was a bad one; it probably wouldn't do for Isabelle DeLuca to be hung over when she went home to Italy.

When JJ and Emily hung up, JJ went into the bookstore, she couldn't be with her friend right now, so she'd do the next best thing, she'd do what she'd suggested Emily do. "Excuse me." She walked up to the help desk, "could you tell me where the romance novels are?"

Emily hung up and started the car again, time to find that non-descript hotel. She turned on the GPS and quickly had directions to the closest Motel 6.

After driving to it, she parked and leaned back in her seat for a moment. "I'm Isabelle DeLuca," she whispered to herself. "I'm going back to Italy after a trip around the world."

A hand went to her abdomen. She didn't know whether or not to be excited about the possible pregnancy. While she wasn't excited about the prospect of being pregnant by Ian, she'd always wanted to be a mom.

After getting a room for the night, she went back out to do as JJ suggested and get a romance novel and some ice cream. After getting both she went back to her room and sat on the bed. "To take it or not to take it, that is the question…" Emily murmured to herself as she stared at the box of pregnancy tests that she'd bought earlier.

"_Just because you don't want to know the answer doesn't mean there isn't one_." Emily could almost hear her mother saying. It was a phrase that Emily had heard several times as a teenager.

Emily sighed and got up. She had to pee anyway. She might as well take the test and get it over with. Quickly going into the bathroom she took the test. She glanced at the box and noticed that it was supposed to take three minutes for the answer to show.

She glanced at the clock, 5:30. "I'll come back in here at 5:33," she decided aloud as she quickly washed her hands and left the test on the bathroom counter. She went back out to the bedroom and sat on the edge of the mattress. She stood up again though and grabbed one of the hand towels from the bathroom and began wiping the night stand down. It looked like the Maid hadn't done a very good job. She quickly had all the surfaces in the hotel room dusted and she dropped the towel on the floor in the bathroom; the maid would pick it up in the morning.

She glanced at the clock in the bedroom still 5:30. She looked at the pint of Ice Cream and thought about opening it and starting her celebration/pity-party early. She glanced at the time: 5:31.

She turned her back to the clock and started to dig into the ice cream. She would have sworn that she'd been eating for a couple of minutes when she turned to look at the clock. The red digital numbers slowly changed from 5:31 to 5:32.

Emily tried not to get too annoyed as she turned back to her ice cream; she picked up the book she'd gotten at the bookstore. It had a woman on the front; she was lying on a bed with only a sheet covering her, there was a gun on the night stand next to her. _The Bounty Hunter's Bride_, the cover read.

She flipped it open to about half way through the book. "Star Joy panted heavily as Richard pounded into her. Their cries of ecstasy filled the room…" she read aloud. Emily rolled her eyes and tossed the book in the direction of the trashcan. It landed in the plastic can with a loud thud.

She turned around and looked at the clock again and did a double take, did it really still say 5:32? The last time a minute seemed this slow was when she was watching a front loader do laundry, and even that minute seemed to be faster then this one. Emily swore quietly. _Could time move any slower?_ She wondered.

Emily pulled out her cell phone and quickly dialed her voice mail. Penelope's voice came on the line.

"_If this is you and you're out there, come home. Please. Did you think we'd just let you walk out of our lives? I'm so furious at you right now. Then I think about how scared you must be, in that dark place all alone. But you are not alone; we are in that dark place with you. We are waving flashlights and calling your name. If you can see us, come home. But if you can't then stay alive, because we're coming!"_

Emily looked at the clock. 5:32.

"Close enough." She muttered she went to the bathroom and looked at the test; it was in the middle of the counter where she'd left it. It simply lay there, taunting her.

Emily hesitantly stepped forward. She wanted to know what the test said, but at the same time she didn't. Finally she picked the test up, her hands shaking and looked at the little window.

Looking at the two lines on the pregnancy test she suddenly knew three things: One: she could never have another abortion, even though this baby was conceived through a rape; she could never abort again. Two: She couldn't see Declan again until after Doyle had been captured. She wouldn't even try to see him from a distance, especially not after what happened last time. She wouldn't let herself put either of her children at risk like that.

And last but not least: Ian Doyle had to die.


End file.
